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Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Watch: Sondre Lerche - "Lucky Guy"

photo by Sean Hagwell

After the cathartic and surreal trilogy of videos directed by Evan Savitt, Sondre Lerche latest video is a much less cerebral and certainly much simpler affair. Frequent collaborator Marius Hage returns to capture Lerche and band (drummer Dave Heilman and Chris Holm on bass) in stark gray in a pretty straightforward performance of one of the most emotionally resonant Please tracks. "Lucky Guy" is a proper summation of all the turbulence, diversions, and pathos of the album with none of the record's insistent fervor.

With no real plot to speak of, the video instead becomes all about Lerche's songwriting and the band's performance played with an uncharacteristic solemnity as Lerche grasps his consolation prize: he may have lost the girl but he's gained some hard-won wisdom and perspective. It's one of the rare moments Lerche allows Please to function like the actual break up record it's purported to being and Hage's honest, no frills approach capitalizes on that energy. Lyrically Lerche aims for introspective over sad and Hage's director completely fits that vibe.